We watched them a few minutes, when Captain Ganoe said:
"I think we can safely leave this matter to the Norwegians and we may start on our return to the ship."
"I am willing to trust them," said Battell, "and it is important that we begin at once to compare notes and lay our plans for the future. I feel that there is no time to be lost." And giving some instructions to Brown who had been selected as foreman in the work of road making, to give such assistance as might be needed, we started on foot for the ship, a distance of between five and six miles.
On our way back, Battell gave us a concise account of his observations and the conclusions at which he had arrived.
"When we left the ship," he said, "we took a southeasterly direction. The cold was intense, but with our ample preparations we did not suffer so much as might have been expected. We reached open water within three days, but the shore line was so precipitous that we could not launch our sledge boats and sail around as I had intended. So, we continued our journey around the ice-field toward the north, as we had begun it. The general direction of the shore line at this point was from the southwest toward the northeast. The traveling was fairly good and we made good time for about a week, and then our trouble commenced. The entire surface was covered to an unknown depth with volcanic ashes.
"The surface formation was evidently new, but careful examination revealed the fact, that this covered an older formation of very considerable thickness. Our soundings, owing to the precipitous character of the coast line, were not satisfactory, but taken in connection with my observations as to the motions of the ice-field, I came to the conclusion that it was frequently grounding on the tops of submarine mountains. If this is true, it will probably hasten the breaking up when the ice becomes rotten under the influence of continuous sunshine.
"Having satisfied myself on these points we started on our return trip, and but for the difficult nature of the surface, and the frequent necessity for road making, we would have been with you by the time the sun made his appearance."
Before we reached the ship, it had been definitely settled that after a short rest, Battell should continue his explorations toward the western borders of the ice-field, and time the expedition, so as to return to the ship before there was any immediate danger from the thaw. We had come to the conclusion that we were floating in an open sea, and it was our intention to press on for the north when the ice went to pieces; and some phenomena, that we, in common with other explorers had observed, led to the opinion that we would find land and not unlikely a habitable country around the pole.
Since the sun had made his appearance, flocks of ducks, brants and geese, coming from the north were quite numerous. When killed we found them fat and juicy and their crops were often filled with a species of grain resembling rice, which seemed to indicate that they came from a temperate climate. We now began to confidently expect that when the ice-field went to pieces we would find the country which produced this grain—the northern home of these flocks of birds.